Double Dare (Devil's Fighters MC Book 3) by Evelyn Glass

of Benedict “Bennie” Lenday and his Devil’s Fighters.
     
    And she sure as hell could not find it in herself to deal with this latest blow—or rather, blows . Plural. As it happened, Xavier could pack a punch outside of the ring as well as within. In one evening, he had given her two horrible pieces of news. Alyssa still could not believe he had gone behind her back and allowed Bennie Lenday to dictate the rules of the game—once again. God, but she hated the man. It felt as though Lenday was the source of any and all pain Alyssa had ever suffered. The only thing he was not responsible for was the death of her parents. Unless…
     
    Alyssa shook her head. She could not and would not go there. Life was complicated enough without looking for made-up conspiracies and imagined attempted murders.
     
    The more she replayed her earlier conversation with Xavier and tried to make sense of it in her mind, the less she succeeded. Eventually, she concluded that it was a blessing that his actions made no sense to her, because it meant her perspective wasn’t as screwed up as his was. She hated to admit this, and she did so without any malice whatsoever, but Xavier was damaged. Eight years with the Devil’s Fighters, leading the life he led, had made sure that his views and morals were a little tilted, a little out of whack. Acquiescing to Benedict Lenday’s blackmail attempt, putting his life in danger, and seeing all of it as “the only way” was anything but a balanced course of action in Alyssa’s book. And yet, she also could see his point when he said he was taking his life back in his own hands for the first time in almost a decade.
     
    She shook her head, pushing all thoughts away and trying to start from scratch. She was just so confused. She supposed the priority right now would be to find a way to stop Xavier from going through with his foolish, suicidal plan. She had absolutely no idea where to start with that.
     
    She waved at Greg for another whiskey.
     
    “Drowning your sorrows? It doesn’t seem like you.”
     
    Alyssa turned and was relieved to find Rick taking his place on a stool next to her. Seeing a friendly face in her general turmoil felt incredibly refreshing.
     
    “Over the past two months I’ve been doing a lot of things that aren’t like me,” she said, nodding her thanks when Greg put a glass in front of her.
     
    Beside her, Rick asked for a beer. He patiently waited for his drink to arrive before he spoke again.
     
    “To things that aren’t like us,” he said, raising his pint.
     
    Alyssa made their glasses tinkle together, and she drank another sip of Jack Daniel’s. The whiskery burned her throat, but she didn’t mind. In fact, she appreciated the sharp sensation; it helped her focus, oddly enough.
     
    “I’m guessing he told you?”
     
    She looked up at Rick. He was watching her intently. “You know about this?” she asked.
     
    He nodded grimly. “I’ve been trying to dissuade him. It’s fucking suicide.”
     
    “Yes, thank you!” Alyssa exclaimed. She was immensely relieved to discover that Rick shared her thoughts on this. “What can we do?”
     
    “Nothing.”
     
    Alyssa blinked. On the other hand, maybe they weren’t exactly on the same page.
     
    “What do you mean, ‘nothing’?” she asked, appalled.
     
    “There’s nothing we can do,” Rick repeated. “It’s his choice.”
     
    “It affects us, too.”
     
    Rick arched a dark blond eyebrow at her. “Do you really think he’s doing it for us?”
     
    Alyssa frowned. “What do you mean?”
     
    “I mean, he may say he is. He may also be telling that to himself. But there’s no way in hell that’s the real reason.”
     
    Alyssa’s head had resumed its spinning, and this time it was mostly due to the alcohol—although Rick’s recent declaration also played a part. She squinted drunkenly at him. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
     
    Rick looked surprised at her drunken tap